Long and short, people volunteer to hide containers (the sizes vary from teeny tiny to HUGE) then post the GPS coordinates of said container. Other people then go find said containers using descriptions, hints, and GPS devices. The containers can be hidden anywhere and everywhere and the type and contents are limited only to the owner’s imagination.

It’s a great way to get outside, stretch your mental muscles, and meet some great people. I am super passionate about it and spread the geocaching word whenever I can (my Cacher name is WarriorScholar….friend me on the geocaching.com website).

So, just like everything I’m passionate about, I get a little upset when people do things that either go against the spirit of the thing I love or are just plain lame. Hence, this guide was born.

I always hope that when I see some shenanigans it is simply because it’s a newbie or the cacher just didn’t know. I hope that this guide will help generate some discussion and help people cache a little nicer. It is written sternly, in hopes that it will hit home for cachers who just don’t care so if your new or just don’t know, I’m not yelling at you (I’m yelling at them ;-))

Here is a sample of one might look like (But there are SOOO many variations…don’t just look for something like this)

No One Wants Your Used Q-Tip

One of the many fun things about caching is the ability to put small trade items into larger sized caches. These are little trinkets that you can take from a cache and keep as your own (DIFFERENT from trackables – see below). These are typically kid or kid-spirit friendly or revolve around the caches theme (for example, an all purple cache or a cache to trade out those support bracelets or just little cheap McDonald’s style toys).

So….knowing this, who puts dirty Q-tips or random toothpicks in a cache that isn’t themed that way? Kids (ok, and some adults *cough, me*) take joy in trading out fun items. It’s no fun to come upon a big cache only to find old soda can tops and used grooming products.

You are supposed to trade kind for kind and if you don’t have something equivocal to trade, take nothing. Again, embrace the spirit of caching and be fair!

Along with that, clean up your trash. GeoCachers are very big on the Cache In, Trash Out (you’ll hear it called CITO) movement. Embrace it yourself.

Do You Work In Adult Films?

I’m glad to say I’ve only seen this a time or two, but please watch your cacher names. Super filthy is not ok. This is a hobby that a lot of children take part in.

When you pick a cacher name that is dirty or blatantly inappropriate, that name is seen on the websites and logged in pen on cacher logs. I am FAAAAAARRRRR from easily offended and even I’ve seen a couple of names that gave me pause.

Just be reasonable.

Pick up a Trackable? LOG. THE. DARN. THING.

One fun part of caches is the ability to purchase what are called “trackables”. They are also referred to as travel bugs or geo coins. They have a unique code on them that allows them to be moved cache to cache and be mapped during travels. They usually have a goal (i.e. – visit all 50 states) and usually have a theme or a friend attached. (See one of mine by clicking here.)

When you come across one you can either leave it in the cache you saw it in or take it with you. Either way, you can go to a website and enter the code to “log” it. It’s nice to log it even if you leave it there (called Discovering it). It’s a nice way to let a trackable owner know it’s still there.

It is a MUST to log it if you take it. A trackable is easily spotted and simply cannot be confused for a standard tradable item. LOG IT ASAP. Then move it on. Don’t keep it forever and if you can’t drop it right away, take the time to log your plans with it so the owner knows where it is.

Someone spent money on this item. It usually means something to them or to their kid. It is their possession and they sent it into the world to brighten their, and other cachers days. Treat this property like you would treat any possession that you borrowed from a friend, because that it was you are doing when you take a trackable.

Owners – Maintain or Delete

This is for the more advanced cacher – the person who places their own caches. For the love of Pete, either maintain, adopt out, or delete your cache. It is so disappointing to not be able to find a cache and then learn the owner has neglected maintenance requests or Did Not Finds for months. I will leave it at that, for if you are placing caches, you need no further explanation.

Well, there you go. Caching is fun and really cool (yes, cool). It is great to do alone and it is great to do with friends and loved ones.

Please just be respectful and follow basic common sense and courtesy and we can all get along just fine! Remember, find me on Geocaching.com as WarriorScholar!

Fellow GeoCachers – What did I forget? Newbies – What you would like to know? Comment/Ask away in the comments. You may inspire another blog 🙂

Virtual events are a hot new trend in the racing world. I wholeheartedly support it and look forward to its continued growth.

So, what is this whole concept?

You sign up (shockingly, online) and are e-mailed or mailed a bib and whatever other goodies the race offers. (Some send the medals ahead of time, others only when you report your time).

You are given a start and end date to run your chosen distance. You then run it however you want during that time. Most of the longer races let you decide of you want to break up the race or not. The shorter races (5ks) typically say all mileage in one shot.

Again, I wholeheartedly support them for several reasons: It’s a fun event to get people out there working the pavement (or the treadmill, trail, etc). It’s also great for people who are frankly nervous about running/walking in an in-person race. You compete with who you want, even if it’s only yourself and I think that can really help people who don’t have the racing bug to find it.

I personally run them for several reasons: 1) motivation…. it gets my butt off the couch! 2) raise money for a cause 3) FLEXIBLE fun. My schedule is nutty so participating in a virtual race gives me some flexibility.

I’ve heard people gripe that it’s bad that it’s on the honor system, etc. but if you cheat, you’re really only cheating yourself. If you’re the guy whose buying medals instead of earning them (seriously?!?), you’re the one who has to live with that.

My one piece of advice is to look for the races that require some form of reporting-portals, mapmyrun, photos, etc. I think those types add a level of accountability and motivation.

Feel free to ask me any questions and I’d love to hear your impressions of the concept.

If you have ever had a discussion about health or fitness with me, you have most likely heard me wax poetic about the mind/body connection. Phrases like “sometimes you have to eat that candy for your mental health” and “if a placebo works, is is really a placebo?” come out of my mouth in a slightly embarrassing frequency. So, when Blogging For Books offered me a review copy of this book, I jumped on it. I was genuinely excited about reviewing a book that looks at my google educated perceptions. I was not disappointed.

Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body by Jo Marchant was a really good blend of scientific evidence presentation and personally gripping stories and it was a pleasure to read.

To say Ms. Marchant is a scientist is an understatement. Words like microbiology and genetics sprinkle her bio and her writing history includes a vast amount of very technical subjects. So when you use terms like “spiritual healing” and “mind power” you can only imagine that she would roll her eyes. But as she tells it, she simply could not ignore the steps that were being made into legitimate scientific research into the mind-body connection.

This is where this book was born. The author completes a very skeptical, yet open-minded at the same time, review of several areas of medicine that are working on non-traditional ways of healing. There is a gut-wrenching section on treating war veterans with virtual reality, reviews of religious miracles, and close looks at how the mind-body connection is being used to help athletes break records. She calls the bad science where she sees it, and lauds the good science just the same. It is an apparently very unbiased look at what is helping people legitimately, what needs more review to prove it’s legitimate, and what is lacking in legitimacy; but all of it is done with respect.

The highlight of the book is that she tells the science through the stories of real people. It moves this subject from being something cold and data driven to something warm, people driven (albeit sometimes in a heart breaking way), but fully backed by good scientific review.

If you have any interest in the mind-body connection, health improvement, “new age” medicine, “traditional” medicine, or just love to read compelling stories of real people, this book is well worth your time.

Please note that I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review but have received no other compensation.

I struggle with eating enough every day, mainly because I get busy and forget. I don’t meal prep well enough. I have come to terms with this and as one of my strengths is self-awareness, I am not going to pretend I am magically going to shift my whole brain and schedule and instead find a workable solution.

So I decided I needed to keep some quick and easy food on hand, but most of what you find on the shelves of stores is, frankly, crap. [My definition of crap = can’t understand the ingredients on the list, refined sugars, low to no nutritional value]

Thus began my mission of finding the perfect food to fit the bill. I have been trying EVERYTHING. I ask everyone I know….though social media, in person, on blogs I trust. Someone suggests it, I find it, order it and try it. It’s been fun. I am about ten different brands deep in this little quest. I’ve only found two worth writing about so far. My front runner for my favorite is the Bruks Bar company. (Sorry, Bruks, I cannot figure out to get the umlaut working on my keyboard…..)

They are Freaking Delicious

I am not going to eat something that doesn’t taste good. That’s just reality. These taste delicious. My personal favorite is the Apricot Chocolate. I even have purchased the subscription of said Apricot Chocolate. Apple Pecan and Cherry Espresso are also great. The fourth flavor, Original, is not on my ‘to buy again’ list. Just didn’t dig the taste. (I also find it side-splittingly hilarious that they have sweet, tasty names like Apricot Chocolate and Cherry Espresso and then they hit you with “ORIGINAL”. What the heck flavor is original?)

The Nutrition is Top Notch

Check out their nutrition page. Take note of what is in the bars, and probably more importantly, NOT in them. Around 200 calories each and packed with high nutrition value, they make the PERFECT, oh crud it’s 2 and I haven’t eaten yet but I don’t have time to go get something and I forgot to pack something and my energy is plummeting, snack.

The Packaging Is Cute

Yes, this matters to me. We eat with our eyes first and since this is delivered to me, I love to get cute packages. (Come on, who doesn’t.) It is shipped in a hand stamped box and just feels homey and natural. It appeals to my visual senses.

Good Customer Service

I have had two orders sent to me and both times the shipping was quick and issue free. The website is easy to use. I didn’t have to talk to a single person to get my order. This is all very, very good in my book.

Price

They run about $3 each, after shipping. Totally, 100% worth it.

This is What They Look Like

Try these bars. Just do it.

***Disclosure – I have not been given any product or discount to write this. However, they are a “local” company (Anything NC is local to me) and I am a big fan of staying as local as possible. Yes, I acknowledge the fact that I have them shipped to me makes it a little less local. Oh well 😉

I don’t write about gear very often, but this is a piece of gear I have to talk about. For the record, I bought this on my own and have recieved no compensation for this write up.

Ok, back to the good stuff.

Bottom Line Up Front: The FlipBelt is a fitness band/tech holder that is a belt like fabric pouch that fits close to your body and can handle everything from phones to IDs to keys.

I’m in love.

Here is why:

I workout in a manner that I needs my hands free. I do weird workouts that involve jumping, running, rolling around, picking up logs, and other shenanigans. I am also addicted to music, especially when working out. I’m one of those annoying people that uses a million apps to track my workouts (yup, I’m that gal….). I have a huge phone. Said phone does all of the tracking and music fun I previously spoke of.

So this leaves me with several dilemmas. I need my phone on me when I work out. NEED, I TELL YOU! I need it easily accessible (touch screen included) and I need it to be relatively safe. I hate how my arm sweats with an arm band phone holder. Plus, I can’t reach the screen easily to add data (gotta track reps!). I don’t like bulky hip packs that bounce around when I run.

Then I can across the FlipBelt. I think I saw it on a FaceBook ad. It caught my eye because it came in green (so important). It ran about twenty bucks total and it seemed worth the risk. I am glad I took the risk.

The FlipBelt is great. It fits right around my waist so there is no bouncing or sliding around, no matter what silly exercise I am doing. I have put my iPhone 6s, my ID, and a house key in the belt and it fits just fine. It stretches to fit everything while keeping it secure. There is a bonus key hook for added protection against it falling out.

Sporting the Flip Belt. I had just taken out the phone (I mean, I had to snap a photo! :))

It also allows me to easily pull my phone (aka nerd box/enabler of my tracking data obsession) so that I can track between sets or change my music.

Finally, I get my gear dirty. I roll in the dirt. It’s what I do. I’ve simply thrown the belt o to the washer and then the dryer and its come out clean and in perfect condition.

I went with green because, well it’s green. I have a 36ish inch waist and the Medium is perfect for me.

I’m a big fan and would reccomend this piece of gear to anyone who needs to tote small items on a run, in the gym, or while climbing through the woods because you got lost when you decided to leave the trail……

I purchased mine from the FlipBelt website (https://flipbelt.com). Shipping was fast. I also ordered a water bag from the site as well. It didn’t work for me and so I requested a return. The return process was super easy. All around great customer service.

I was raisedon the belief that “if you have to tell someone how good you are, you’re probably not that good.”

Go ahead and read that a couple more times and let it soak in.

If you are a veteran prone to what I like to call IVS, also knownas irritable veteran syndrome, you might just want to stop reading now. You will undoubtedly be butt hurt by the time I finish.

I am going to start with the old saying “if the shoe fits” and you can decide if I am out of line, dead wrong, or speaking about a truth we have lost sight of. I will be completely honest. I am ashamed of the veteran community as a whole when it comes to how we have been behaving. In the age of social media I cannot go throughthe day without seeing a viral picture or video passed…

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What this blog is all about….

I am a woman who likes to play in the dirt, usually carrying something heavy while doing said playing. I am also a woman who loves to push herself and test her mental and physical limits. I love reading about and listening to podcasts by those who have great ideas how to be healthy and challenged, but most of these people are men. So, here comes the point of the blog.

Men and women are different. It is just a fact. I want to take some great tips that are brilliantly developed and tried by my male role models, and write about how they impact women.

Follow me for bio-hacking tests, food adventures, and other fun stuff, all from a woman’s perspective.